Storm Over the Nile
Encyclopedia
Storm Over the Nile is a 1955
film adaptation of the novel The Four Feathers
, directed by Terence Young. The film not only extensively used footage of the action scenes from the 1939 film version
stretched into CinemaScope
, but exactly the same screenplay, almost line-for-line also then directed by Zoltan Korda
as well as several pieces of music by the original composer Miklos Rozsa
. It featured Anthony Steel, Laurence Harvey
, James Robertson Justice
, Mary Ure
, Ian Carmichael
, Michael Horden and Christopher Lee
. The film was shot on location in the Sudan
.
friends relating tales of cowardice that often ended in suicide. Young Harry follows his father's wishes of being commissioned in the Royal North Surrey Regiment.
A year after his father's death, the North Surreys are given orders to deploy to the Sudan Campaign to join General Kitchener's forces to avenge General Gordon
's death at Khartoum. Harry resigns his commission on the eve of his regiment's departure where he is given four feathers as a symbol of his cowardice from his three fellow officers and his fiancee, the daughter of his father's friend General Burroughs.
Unable to live as a coward, Harry contacts a sympathetic friend of his father's, Dr. Sutton, to obtain his help and contacts to join the campaign in the Sudan. Meeting Dr. Sutton's friend Dr Harraz in Egypt
, Harry is disguised as a member of a tribe that had their tongues cut out for their treachery by the supporters of the Mahdi. The tribe is identified with a brand that Harry undergoes as well as dyeing his skin colour. The extreme disguise is done to disguise the fact that he cannot speak Arabic
or any other native language.
Following as a native worker, Harry follows his old company who have been sent independently from the main force as a distraction to the enemy. His former comrade and romantic rival Captain Durrance loses his helmet on a reconnaissance patrol. He is unable to retrieve it or move from a position facing the sun as a result of Sudanese searching for him. The hours forced to look at the hot sun destroy the nerves of his eyes, making him blind.
Harry warns the company of the enemy's night assault but he is knocked unconscious. His company is wiped out with Harry's former friends, the subalterns Burroughs and Willoughby captured by the enemy and imprisoned in Omdurman
. Harry plays mute with the blind Durrance to take him to British
lines, then enters Omdurman to find his old friends.
1955 in film
The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
film adaptation of the novel The Four Feathers
The Four Feathers
The Four Feathers is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A.E.W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title.-Plot summary:...
, directed by Terence Young. The film not only extensively used footage of the action scenes from the 1939 film version
The Four Feathers (1939 film)
The Four Feathers is a 1939 adventure film directed by Zoltan Korda, starring John Clements, Ralph Richardson, June Duprez, C. Aubrey Smith. Set in the 1890s during the reign of Queen Victoria, it tells the story of a man accused of cowardice. It is one of a number of adaptations of the 1902 novel...
stretched into CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
, but exactly the same screenplay, almost line-for-line also then directed by Zoltan Korda
Zoltán Korda
Zoltan Korda was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer.Born Zoltán Kellner, Kellner Zoltán in Hungarian name order, of Jewish heritage in Pusztatúrpásztó, Túrkeve in Hungary , he was the middle brother of filmmakers Alexander and Vincent Korda.Zoltan Korda went to...
as well as several pieces of music by the original composer Miklos Rozsa
Miklós Rózsa
Miklós Rózsa was a Hungarian-born composer trained in Germany , and active in France , England , and the United States , with extensive sojourns in Italy from 1953...
. It featured Anthony Steel, Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
, James Robertson Justice
James Robertson Justice
James Robertson Justice was a popular British character actor in British films of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
, Mary Ure
Mary Ure
Eileen Mary Ure was a Scottish actress of stage and film.-Early life:Born in Glasgow where she studied at the school of drama, Ure was the daughter of civil engineer Colin McGregor Ure and Edith Swinburne. She went to the independent Mount School in York and trained for the stage at the Central...
, Ian Carmichael
Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
, Michael Horden and Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
. The film was shot on location in the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
.
Plot
The film depicts Harry Faversham, a sensitive child who is terrified by his father and his Crimean WarCrimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
friends relating tales of cowardice that often ended in suicide. Young Harry follows his father's wishes of being commissioned in the Royal North Surrey Regiment.
A year after his father's death, the North Surreys are given orders to deploy to the Sudan Campaign to join General Kitchener's forces to avenge General Gordon
Charles George Gordon
Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....
's death at Khartoum. Harry resigns his commission on the eve of his regiment's departure where he is given four feathers as a symbol of his cowardice from his three fellow officers and his fiancee, the daughter of his father's friend General Burroughs.
Unable to live as a coward, Harry contacts a sympathetic friend of his father's, Dr. Sutton, to obtain his help and contacts to join the campaign in the Sudan. Meeting Dr. Sutton's friend Dr Harraz in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Harry is disguised as a member of a tribe that had their tongues cut out for their treachery by the supporters of the Mahdi. The tribe is identified with a brand that Harry undergoes as well as dyeing his skin colour. The extreme disguise is done to disguise the fact that he cannot speak Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
or any other native language.
Following as a native worker, Harry follows his old company who have been sent independently from the main force as a distraction to the enemy. His former comrade and romantic rival Captain Durrance loses his helmet on a reconnaissance patrol. He is unable to retrieve it or move from a position facing the sun as a result of Sudanese searching for him. The hours forced to look at the hot sun destroy the nerves of his eyes, making him blind.
Harry warns the company of the enemy's night assault but he is knocked unconscious. His company is wiped out with Harry's former friends, the subalterns Burroughs and Willoughby captured by the enemy and imprisoned in Omdurman
Omdurman
Omdurman is the second largest city in Sudan and Khartoum State, lying on the western banks of the River Nile, opposite the capital, Khartoum. Omdurman has a population of 2,395,159 and is the national centre of commerce...
. Harry plays mute with the blind Durrance to take him to British
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
lines, then enters Omdurman to find his old friends.
Cast
- Anthony Steel as Harry Faversham
- Laurence HarveyLaurence HarveyLaurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
as John Durrance - James Robertson JusticeJames Robertson JusticeJames Robertson Justice was a popular British character actor in British films of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
as General Burroughs - Mary UreMary UreEileen Mary Ure was a Scottish actress of stage and film.-Early life:Born in Glasgow where she studied at the school of drama, Ure was the daughter of civil engineer Colin McGregor Ure and Edith Swinburne. She went to the independent Mount School in York and trained for the stage at the Central...
as Mary Burroughs - Geoffrey KeenGeoffrey KeenGeoffrey Keen was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many famous films.-Early life:Keen was born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom...
as Dr. Sutton - Ronald LewisRonald LewisRonald Lewis , was a Welsh actor, best known for his appearances in British films of the 1950s and 1960s.Lewis was born in Port Talbot and made his first screen appearance in 1953. From then on, he averaged one or two films a year until the mid-60s, including classics like The Wind Cannot Read ...
as Peter Burroughs - Ian CarmichaelIan CarmichaelIan Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
as Willoughby - Michael HordernMichael HordernSir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:...
as General Faversham - Jack LambertJack Lambert (British actor)Jack Lambert was a British film and television actor.-Selected filmography:* Red Ensign * The Ghost Goes West * Premiere * Nine Men * Floodtide * The Lost Hours...
as Colonel - Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
as Karaga Pasha - Ferdy MayneFerdy Mayne-Early life:He was born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel, in Mainz, Germany. His German father was the Judge of Mayence, and his half-English mother gave singing lessons. Because his family was Jewish, he was sent to England to protect him from the Nazis, and he stayed with his aunt, the photographer...
as Dr. Harraz - Raymond Francis as Colonel's Aide
- Sam KyddSam KyddSam Kydd was an Ulster-born English actor. An army officer's son, he was born in Belfast, but moved to London, England when he was a child. He was educated at Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England....
as Joe - John Wynn as Sergeant (as John Wynne)
- Avis Scott as Sergeant's wife
- John LaurieJohn LaurieJohn Paton Laurie was a British actor born in Dumfries, Scotland. Although he is now probably most recognised for his role as Private James Frazer in the sitcom Dad's Army , he appeared in hundreds of feature films, including films by Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier...
as the Khalifa (This part was lifted from the 1939 version, "The Four Feathers", along with some of the battle scenes.)